Graphical plotting instruments, such as those employed in computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided engineering (CAE) applications, are currently of two general types. The first is a roller type plotter, in which a roll of paper, on which an image is to be plotted, is unwound as a pen carriage moves along a rectilinear travel path parallel to the cylindrical axis of the roll. Roller type plotters are generally stand alone units, accommodating a fixed paper width associated with a particular plotting application. The second general class of plotter is the bed, or table, plotter, having a bed (support plate) that is sized to accommodate a limited paper size (e.g. C/D, B/C, or A/B), and which contains a pair of parallel drive tracks along opposite edges of the bed for driving a plotting pen translation bar back and forth over the bed surface. Like the roller plotter, in addition to its limited paper size, the bed plotter is hardware intensive, occupying a substantial workstation area, even when not in use. Moreover, in each of these conventional classes of plotters, the fixed separation between the plotting pen translation mechanism and the paper working surface limits the thickness and surface topology of the web material over which the pen travels.